


She laughs

by Buffalospecs



Category: Sanditon (TV 2019)
Genre: One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:27:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29199837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buffalospecs/pseuds/Buffalospecs
Summary: A valentine one shot set immediately after episode 8. HEA and some sidlotte fun. Nothing explicit because I don’t think thats my forte....I’m not a writer but had fun doing this so thought I’d post.
Relationships: Charlotte Heywood/Sidney Parker, sidlotte
Comments: 23
Kudos: 156





	She laughs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SanditonSquad](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=SanditonSquad).



> Thankyou for reading feedback welcome.

The road was flooded, his horse reluctant to continue forward, Sidney cursed as he tried to find his way through, eventually turning back in the direction of the inn he had found himself at not thirty minutes prior when he asked directions to the Heywood farm. “You’ll not get through to that estate tonight sir, the river has burst it’s banks as it is want to do in this weather. That family are well used to it and it’ll be a day or two before we see them back in the village”.  
The gentleman behind the bar smirked at him as he entered. Nodding back Sidney asked for a room and refreshment.  
“I should have listened to you sir, the road is impassible”  
“Aye it is that, what urgent business made you attempt it? I hope the family have not ill timed news to hear” his eyes showed concern as he placed a beaker and plate of cold meats and bread down in front of Sidney.  
“Im not sure I’m placed to judge how they will receive me” and with that he downed the ale and made his excuses to venture upstairs, suddenly losing his appetite.

Tossing and turning in his bed he went over and over the past 4 weeks of his life, possibly the worst and yet could still be the best if Charlotte, his Charlotte could forgive him that terrible parting and choose to still love him. He was at once terrified and desperate to see her and this further inconvenience of the weather of all things was almost too much to bear.

Both lady Susan and Georgiana had turned out to not only be his rescue but also his much needed wake up call to the future he was shackling himself to in the folly of his deal with Eliza. Neither woman had minced their words as they brought him to his senses. Eliza, once faced with the hard truth of the impossibility of him being able to love her again decided her fate was better settled with a man of status and broke off her engemeant to Sidney for Lord Earslmere, a man worth ten thousand a year who was regularly invited to the palace and while not possessing the same irresistibly handsome face that did another, was nevertheless more than tolerable and seemed to be lively enough in bed to satisfy her wants.

He had not written to charlotte when he became free, he continued to settle the accounts in London as Lady Denham required, insured the buildings and made his way back to Sanditon to broker a deal with Stringer in the hope that the man would stay on despite his losses. 

On the first of October he finally felt as though he could actually ask for her hand this time without Tom or anyone else for that matter interrupting him. 

And then came the rain. 

“Curse a man when he is down” he spat out for no one but himself to hear and thought of the irony of being so close to her and yet still separated this time by the river! The irony was not lost on him.  
He knew not how he would spend the days ahead trying to get though the damn road and eventually fell asleep as he debated whether arriving dishevelled and muddy having walked though the fields would be a wise way to introduce oneself to Mr heywood.

It was 36 hours later before the innkeeper finally let Sidney know that the road was deemed passable on horseback. Those 36 hours were long and slow but at least he had gone over and over what he would say both to her and her family a hundred times and so was feeling a little prepared. 

The folly of those thoughts was about to become clear when, as he rounded the corner approaching the heywood farm, he saw her:

She wore thick boots and working clothes as she aggressively swept the lane to the house, her boots squelching in the mud, her face determined, her brow perspiring with the effort. Sidney had never seen her so beautiful, somehow the ball gowns and elegant hairstyles seemed so unnecessarily meaningless just then. Faced with this reality all his thoughts were now a jumbled mess and his rehearsals lost in the wonder of her presence. He dismounted, yet to be seen and approached her on foot. “Can I assist you, Miss Heywood?”

She lifted her face in shock, stood dumbfounded before him and had yet to speak. 

“I am sorry I didn’t mean to startle you, I, .....I .....It is soo good to see you“, he smiled softly at her, desperate to go to her but holding back with nerves.

“Mr Parker........why..........what brings you to Willingden? You see we have had much rain, i am clearing the paths and am not fit to be seen”  
Charlotte stumbled through her words. Worry and was it fear? etched on her face. He was desperate to hold her, tell her that to him he had never seen anyone more beautiful. He wanted to kiss the mud off her face, lift her up and never let go again. Instead he stood there, painfully aware that whilst he had planned this for 14 and a half long days she had no knowledge of it. 

“Char....Miss Heywood, I had hoped that perhaps you may have heard from Georgianna or lady Susan. I have much to thank them both for. I should perhaps spare you the details for now but I am free.”

“Free?”

“Yes.....free of Eliza’s engagement and Tom....Tom is free of Lady Dunham’s threats and demands.”

It was Charlotte’s turn to stare. Holding on to her broom for dear life as the enormity of these truths began to take hold.  
“How is that possible” she whispered hoarsely. 

“Charlotte, please, tell me it is not too late. I have thought of nothing but you since we parted on the cliffs, you consume my thoughts by day andI wake having dreamt of you at night. Never haveI felt so bereft, so alone. You alone have the power to steady me, you alone can undo me and make me whole again. I am selfish and I have treated you abominably. Can you ever forgive me and consent to be my wife?”

She stared on, shocked, her eyes not moving from his, still holding on to the broom, suddenly aware again of her appearance, and without intent the tears started to fall, she lost hold of the broom, in slow motion it dramatically fell, showering both of them in splatters of mud, simultaneously breaking the tension as she erupted then into laughter. Until that moment, Sidney had stood immobilised, paralysed by fear that he had made a mistake, gone about this the wrong way and then he heard her laugh, saw her joy, the frown replaced by her beautiful smile, and he felt brave enough to step closer, hold her waist, “Charlotte.....”

”Sidney”  
Her eyes flitted between his eyes and lips and that was permission enough for him to do it-to touch his lips to hers and repeat his last line “Be my wife?” 

“Yes” she replied before she claimed his lips this time, filling him with a thrill and a longing that he had never felt before. 

It would not do to go into the complex explanations and lengthy conversations that Sidney and Charlotte went on to have with Mr and Mrs Heywood on arrival in a dishevelled, muddy and flushed state at the farm later that afternoon. Suffice to say that after some initial concern, the Heywood family were fully behind the upcoming nuptials and so Sidney found himself six weeks hence awaiting his bride at the altar of the little village church in Willingden. 

Lady Susan and Georgiana were seated next to each other in the front pew proudly exchanging smiles as they observed Sidney’s anxious state. 

The river swim that morning had not had the desired effect and Sidney found himself to be fidgety and had Babbers not had a hand on his shoulder he would have been pacing. Pacing, not because he was afraid she would not show up, but that fate would yet again conspire to seperate them, her carriage would overturn, her father would take ill and she being Charlotte would of course abandon her journey to the altar to tend to his needs. ‘Good ness how selfish I am, pull yourself together Sidney’. His want of her, his need of her, overwhelming him and he was terrified. At long last he heard the organ begin, and he turned his eyes towards the back of the echoing chamber to observe the doors open.

There she was: more captivating and ethereal than he could even have imagined, he felt his eyes moisten as his mouth took over his face in a grin. She giggled shyly as she arrived in front of him. He whispered ‘hello beautiful’ and the rest of the ceremony and day passed in somewhat of a blur. All he knew was that he never left her side and she his and he found he could hardly bear to think of every being parted again. He had always preferred his own company for the most part but found he couldn’t think of being alone with any comfort at all anymore. He watched as she smiled and conversed with all their family and friends, he tried but failed miserably to hide the fact that he would rather be alone at this stage, with her, with Charlotte and then his mind strayed again to that place it had often gone to in the quiet of the night as he imagined what it would be like to have her alongside him , under him, atop him....’right best get control of yourself man’ he mumbled to himself and as he realised the conversation between Charlotte and lady Susan was in fact still ongoing and he was hardly paying attention.  
“Charlotte my dear, I think your Sidney might be tiring of company. I believe it might be time you allowed him to make an escape”. the wise Lady Susan coyly slipping away. Charlotte blushed beautifully and looked up at his face, one she had hardly looked at since the church some hours earlier.  
“It seems we are alone again Mrs Parker, may I drag you away from your friends?”  
She smiled back at him and squeezed his arm. 

Once alone in the carriage Sidney took her hand and kissed it. She trembled and he could not discern whether it was fear or some other emotion in her face. He felt the tension between them and the memories of their carriage trip to London flashed in his mind, making him feel inadequate again and unworthy of her. 

It was in relative silence that they arrived man and wife at the door to their new home in Sanditon. Mary had spent many hours ensuring that the old parker house with its route to the cove was made ready for the newlyweds, and she had many helpers.  
The servants had prepared the fires and the baths for their arrival. Sidney led her by the hand down the path and she laughed as he lifted her across the threshold and up the stairs.  
“Sidney ......”  
“Yes charlotte?”  
“I cannot believe today was our wedding and that here I am as your wife. It is both wonderful and ....” she looked down at her hands nervously clasped in front of her  
He came and enveloped her at the waist, kissing her forehead and lifting her chin gently towards him.  
“It is more wonderful than I thought possible Charlotte, you are more wonderful, I am not worthy of your love and find myself both desperate to please you and terrified that I will disappoint you.”

“You are terrified!” She exclaimed .  
“Sidney I....” he prevented her from continuing by claiming her lips, assuming her fears to be what he imagined every young woman’s fears might be on her wedding night and swore to himself to gently lead her through the dance of love one step at a time. He felt the tension begin to leave her shoulders as she found confidence in mimicked the movements he made with his tongue. Fingers shaking he began to undo the buttons of her dress and loosen her stays.

Hours later after Sidney had explored every inch of her body and Charlotte had turned from the shy to adventurous receiver of his love and caresses, gentle and then less so; they lay naked limbs entwined and Sidney laughed. “Are you laughing at me Mr Parker?”

Sidney smiled mischievously as he stroked along her breast absentmindedly circling her nipple. “I had expected you would come to be quite as fiesty in bed as you are were with your tongue when we first met but had not imagined you to be so quick to develop those skills”  
Charlotte feigned abhorrence : “I must have a good teacher, although am not sure if I can remember the second act so well-can you show me again?”  
“Insatiable minx, wife” Sidney smirked as he rolled her over and planted kisses from her thighs towards her middle as she gasped and arched her back and was once again rendered speechless. 

As they came home from the cove the following day along their private lane only partially appropriately dressed, Sidney pondered how he never would have imagined being this happy. That he had most certainly found his match and that this courageous, beautiful woman by his side was more than his equal in wit and intellect.......  
“I hope that you will often repeat that Sidney, even though it is somewhat technically demanding” smirked Charlotte, referring of course to his making love to her in the waves at the cove. It had felt wonderful to relive that cove incident from their past but this time both being able to give in to the desire they had very much suppressed that day.  
“You hated me in that moment I am sure of it”  
“I did not hate you....I hated the fact that as you rose from the water I could do nothing but look at you,and I hated that I wanted to keep my eyes there, I hated that I wanted to love you, because it felt inevitable and out of my control”  
“Well thank goodness it happened otherwise you may still feel that same hate today”  
“Sidney parker, you know you have more than your body to recommend you-although these past few days I have not had much else on my mind-I confess I find myself occupied with each new way I can have you”  
Sidney needed no more encouragement to immediately pick her up and hastily complete the remaining steps to the house and their bedroom.


End file.
